Saturday folks, let’s make it happen. The chill was still in the air this week here in Chitown, so curry rather than salads seems appropriate and I have just the one: a delicious Japanese Pork Curry.
Once a month I get a new cookbook and I love nothing more than coming home, busting it open and bookmarking the heck out of everything I want to make. Sometimes the recipes show up here, but sometimes I want to enjoy it hot, not as leftovers and not perfectly plated for all to see. Yes, selfish.
One of my favorite books of late was The Flavour Principle. You’ve seen it before, in the way of the Easter Lamb that looked not at all like the picture in the book (roast vs. stew was the first issue) and you’re seeing it again today with this Japanese Pork Curry.
Call me naive when I forgot that Japan actually does have a curry, my mind so consumed and distracted by sushi. Seems I need to spend more time in the Tomato household with the Mama to get schooled, but for now, cookbooks will have to do and this curry, well. So good.
I’m actually not sure if you can buy commercial Japanese curry powder, but the book offers not only a recipe, but also a way to use it. It luckily doesn’t have any one-off ingredients, and it was easy to put together with everything in my pantry. A mark of a good recipe, says I. Also, with all the different spices going into the powder, I wasn’t sure how it was going to taste. I still can’t even really describe it, but it works.
I mixed this up with pork since I haven’t made it in a while but it works because, after all, it’s the other white meat. Tenderloin means it’s all good in around 30 minutes and my own mantra of “citrus and herbs” makes it mine. And now, it’s yours, too.
Written while watching Easy A. In case you forgot, this movie is great.
Japanese Pork Curry
Bright Japanese Pork Curry comes together quickly - made with homemade curry powder with a mix straight from your pantry staples.
Ingredients
- For the Japanese Curry Powder:
- 2 TB turmeric
- 1 TB ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 ts ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground fennel
- For the rest:
- 1 1/2 pound boneless pork tenderloin, cut into 1" chunks
- 4 TB vegetable oil
- 1 cup thinly sliced onions
- 1/2 coarse grated Granny Smith apple
- 2 TB Japanese curry powder
- 1 TB fresh ginger, chopped
- 1 TB garlic, chopped
- 2 TB all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken or pork stock
- 4 cups spinach
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, juiced (about 3 TB)
Directions
- Step 1 Make the curry powder by combining all the spices in a bowl and stir until uniformly combined. Store in a sealed container.
- Step 2 Heat 2 TB oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the pork in batches and sear for 1-2 minutes per side until lightly golden. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Step 3 Add the remaining oil to the pan and add the onions, and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the apple, curry powder, ginger and garlic and salute 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook about 2 minutes to get rid of the raw taste. Add the stock and stir until well combined. Reduce heat to thicken, about 2 minutes.
- Step 4 Return the pork to the pan and cook 10 minutes until meat is cooked through. Stir in spinach and cook until it wilts. Add the lime and cilantro and mix it all up. Serve over rice.
That curry sauce looks so delicious. What’s the difference between Japanese and Indian curry?
It’s so different but I can’t put my finger on why really. One of the ways I can tell is that it uses flour as a thickener rather than cream as in Indian curries. And the flavor is just..not the same. I honestly prefer Indian ones, but it was good to try something different.
Easy A IS an excellent movie. I do own it (though in storage) but prefer to watch it lazily while it’s on bravo/similar channel every few months.
that’s how I am with most movies I own. Part of it is because I lost my DVD player remote and thus it requires too much getting up